Lyocell, The New Generation of Regenerated Cellulose

For the majority of the last century, commercial routes to regenerated cellulose fibres have coped with the difficulties of making a good cellulose solution by using an easy to dissolve derivative (e.g. xanthane in the case of viscose rayon) or complex (e.g. cuprammonium rayon). For the purposes of this paper, advanced cellulosic fibres are defined as those made from a process involving direct dissolution of cellulose. The first examples of such fibres have now been generically designaed as lyocell fibres to distinguish them from rayons, and the first commercial lyocell fibre is Courtaulds' Tencel.